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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Review: The Patchwork Marriage - Jane Green

One of my favourite Chick-Lit authors is british author Jane Green. Years ago, I got a calendar of Chick Lit and each day it contained an excerpt from different chick lit books and one of those books happened to be Mr Maybe by Jane Green and from then on, I was hooked on her books. Today's book is her latest which has been released under two names depending where in the world you are - Another Piece of my Heart (USA) and The Patchwork Marriage (UK). We in New Zealand followed suit with the UK Publication.

WOW, where to begin with this book. As soon as I saw it had been released I knew I just had to read it but as I got into it , I had no idea that it would be so touching and send me on an emotional journey. I am not normally a crier in novels but about halfway through The Patchwork Marriage in Part #2 , my eyes started to tear up as it had hit a sad note as the reader really feels for the main character Andi and the decisions that surround her. The Patchwork Marriage starts when Andi meets Ethan, he is divorced from Janice who was an alcoholic and later in the novel takes a long look at herself and realises what she has become and decides to direct herself on a journey of AA and Sobriety. With the divorce came along two girls - Sophie aged 7 and Emily aged 12. Andi loving Ethan and always wanting a family of her own fell in love with the children and Sophie immediately attached herself to Andi but Emily on the other hand made Andi's life hell . The first part of the novel follows over the course of five years and Emily is now seventeen and always into trouble and has her father wrapped around her little finger. Emily's troubles as we soon discover are driving and forcing a wedge between Andi and Ethan and soon that wedge has been driven too deep in and pushed the pair further apart that talk of Andi leaving has popped up. Around the time Andi goes to leave, Part #2 of the book starts and we discover that Emily has once again gotten herself into trouble and this time in the form of pregnancy and that there is no going back. Andi playing the role of supportive Stepmother and wife helps Emily but when it's discovered that Ethan wants to adopt the baby out , Andi's feelings are hurt as the one thing she wants most in the world besides Ethan is a child to call her own. Part #2 as we encounter the family discussions etc was when my eyes started to tear up and if you are a crier - then keep a box of tissues next to you when you read this part. In the last part , Emily has had her baby Cal and then ran off for three years and now she is back and wants her son , the one we discover that Andi has become so close to . Will the fear of losing Cal to Emily break Andi's heart once and for all ? Is Andi's reality of marriage over as she continues to lose another piece of her heart ?

Find out in the Patchwork Marriage by Jane Green , a novel that EVERYONE should read.